Author archives: Ethan Milner

Phillip Michael Scales is a performer currently living in Chicago, trained at the Berklee School of Music, and raised in Metro Detroit. Coinciding with Black History Month, Scales has released a record on Bandcamp entitled “The Great Routine,” a concept album exploring some of the personal and political dynamics of a Minstrel performer. Scales plays under the moniker Briar Rabbit, whic[...]

Live music has a way of re-contextualizing its performer. An example that comes to mind is the “art-metal” outfit Kylesa, who so cunningly convince of their talent by way of excellent recorded production value. See them once live, however, and marvel at your newfound respect for engineering and production. Live performance is another beast entirely.
Thus I was apprehensive about what I s[...]

Break out those bells of folly, because it's that time of year again! You know, the one when you Christians ceaselessly worship the birth of your baby God. And as the holiday season is afoot, we of little faith must all pinch our noses and inhale the sickly green and red vapors of Christmas cheer! As Bart Simpson once said, "Christmas is a time when people of all religions come together to wor[...]

I’ll let you in on a secret that shouldn’t be so well-kept: Sycamore Smith, the Upper Peninsula’s extraordinary, twisted troubadour, is one of the world’s great living songwriters. For now let’s try to limit the unabashed effusion to that, as I’ll be reviewing some of his solo work in the near future; keep it in mind, at least, as we discuss his new project. They’re called The Redettes, and the de[...]

Ryan Allen has been in every single Detroit area band from the depression era to the present. He’s also had thousands of his own side projects during that time, though it’s hard to say which of them is the real band and which the side project, because he’s been in all of them. You know that idea for a bare bones Grunge project with a Zydeco twist you’ve been knocking around? He’s going to be in [...]

Hello folks! While browsing my local internet stream I saw that Mittenfest is soliciting applications and receiving help from some music blogs! Well I’ll be god damned if MCR isn’t going to pitch in, so here goes:
Mittenfest is taking applications for bands to play. For those of you who don’t know, Mittenfest is a yearly benefit concert held in Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti during Brandon Zwagerman[...]

I’ll not say more than is necessary, as those who knew him better will doubtless have more of value to say. Detroit, everyone, lost someone special.
When I was sixteen I used to watch Sean Fitzgerald and Blair play / host open mics at Xhedo’s in Ferndale. This past Saturday Blair passed, joining Sean in the land of Gone Too Soon. Being able to see dynamic performers nightly electrified the tend[...]